I’ve Caught Up To My Dad

I thought I'd share something with you that I've been thinking about for a while.

I don't remember exactly when it was, but one day in the last year or so I was thinking about the fact that my dad died (as a result of injuries) a few days short of his 69th birthday.

That got me thinking...

Our new stove — and our old stove

byJan Smith

The year was 1973 when my wife Joanne and I and our little five-month-old daughter Jennifer moved into this house. Richard Nixon was president at that time, and gasoline cost just over 30 cents/gallon. I think I was earning $900/month as an engineer at that time. Joanne and I had saved enough money to afford
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The History of APRONS

byJan Smith

Jan Smith - January 3, 2009 Someone sent this to me on the internet. I liked it, so thought I'd post it here for others to read. I'm 66, and I can remember, when I was a small boy, seeing my own mother doing many of the things described in this article. We didn't live
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How Cold Was It?

byJan Smith

Jan Smith - January 2, 2009 Our daughter and her husband drove up from Anchorage to Fairbanks on New Year's Eve. They were hungry as they pulled into Fairbanks, so they headed downtown hoping to find a fast-food place open.Jenni writes, "...nothing was open. Did get this cool picture though".Cool? Now there's an understatement!<g> They
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Oh, Christmas Tree!!

byJan Smith

Inside Story We are frequent visitors to the ArcticCam web site, hosted by the Daily News Miner, a newspaper in Fairbanks, Alaska. We live in Minnesota, but our daughter lives in Fairbanks. Viewing this web cam shows us what the weather is like where our daughter is. But the ArcticCam web site has become more
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Giving Thanks to the Father

byJan Smith

Jan Smith - November 26, 2008 I recall a story once about a young woman who was showing off her new kitchen to her grandmother. The kitchen was bright and spacious, and had all the latest gadgets and appliances. After taking it all in, the older woman asked her granddaughter to name the one thing
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Alaskan Adventure – 2008 (Part 4)

byJan Smith

Jan Smith - 07/19/2008 It's 5:17 AM (Alaska time) as I sit down to write this. In a couple of hours Joanne and I will be at the airport in Fairbanks. We're heading home. What a GREAT time we've had!!We even had our picture taken, all the way from Minnesota: Here are a couple of
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Alaskan Adventure – 2008 (part 3)

byJan Smith

Jan Smith - 07/17/2008 Question: what do you do when you've come a long way to see beautiful scenery and the scenery looks like this? (There are supposed to be mountains at left in the background.<s>) Answer: you focus on things that are near, and leave the sky out of the picture. Example: We've remained
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Alaskan Adventure – 2008 (part 2)

byJan Smith

Jan Smith - 07/15/2008 I haven't much time to write today and my internet connection is weak, so I'll just let a few photos say it for me. I've included pics from various parts of our road adventure just to give you an idea of how far we've come. The first one is a nice
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Alaskan Adventure – 2008

byJan Smith

Jan Smith - 07/10/2008 I'm sitting in an RV parked at Eagle's Rest in Valdez, eating fresh halibut for lunch while editing photos and writing this. Joanne shot this photo of the mountains from a vantage point at Delta Junction after 11:00 PM Sunday evening. The weather went from hot and sunny in Fairbanks to
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Work With All Your Heart

byJan Smith

Jan Smith - 03/10/2008 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men" (Colossians 3:23) The essence of a genuine Christian spirit is this: how do we behave when nobody is watching? I thought about that as I left for work this morning. I had just
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So Near And Yet So Far

byJan Smith

Jan Smith - 02/27/2008 The telephone rang the other day. I answered and, much to my delight, my daughter Jenni was calling from Fairbanks, Alaska. (I should mention that Joanne and I live in Minnesota.) Jenni said they were on the way to a store, and realized their route would take them right past the
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Remembering Smokey

byJan Smith

Jan and Joanne Smith - 01/31/2008 This is mainly written to our family, to let them know what has happened. Sometime in the early hours of this morning, (Thursday, January 31st) our oldest dog, Smokey, died. We're posting this sketch of Smokey, made years ago by Jenni, because it captures her likeness so perfectly. In
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How To Have A Marriage That Is “Not Quickly Broken”

byJan Smith

Jan Smith - 01/24/2008 In a previous blog entry, I said I wanted to share some of the Biblical principles I have learned, and the accompanying notes I've written in the margins of my Bible. Here's one that is very special to me because it involves my own family. On July 20, 2007, it was
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Mom’s Journey Home

byJan Smith

E-mail from my sister Betty, about our Mom - 01/20/2008 Betty goes to visit Mom just about every day. It's about a 50-mile round trip, so it's no small thing. Betty has given me permission to post her update messages for all to read. Hi - Just a quick note to let you all know
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